Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of its characters. If I did I'd be a whole lot richer. The only thing I own is my Oc Alaric.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'Telepathic'

Chapter 36

Gohan gaped at Cell's form through the up-hurling dust for a few moments before his face turned into one of hate, rage and anger, his eyes flashing and his teeth bearing. He balled his fists by his sides however, prevented himself from lashing out at Cell.

"I can see you're all wondering where I got my nice new powers." Cell chuckled, to which his only reply was a look of displeasure from Gohan. The Z-fighters were so caught up in gaping at Cell that they failed to notice the boiling up in Vegeta's energy, his temper and anger rising at the loss of their son. His fists balled and his muscles tightened. But despite all this, Vegeta's restraints prevented him from launching himself at Cell, but who knows how long he would be able to hold up.

All Goku could remember was that same moment on Namek with Frieza surviving the Spirit Bomb and lifting Alaric from his arms, causing him to explode. He vowed to himself not to let his sons or family die in front of him again, but seeing his little warrior dying slowly in front of him, he made a decision that could change his fate.

"Very well then, but to explain it I must start with my creator Dr. Gero. He was a brilliant scientist and along with my powers and upgrades, he was aware of the possibility of the sacrifice explosion technique involving my self-destruction sequence being activated during my purging of this planet against you Z-warriors. So, in case I ever destroyed my original body during my self destruction, Dr. Gero had installed an encasement cell where much of my cells would be contained in. And, if my body was to ever be destroyed in an atomic blast or what not, this tough Cell of mine would be able to regenerate and I would be able to lead another, stronger then ever!"

Gohan growled in malice. His brother was dying because of him and Cell had returned stronger then ever before and Gohan knew that he wouldn't be able to take Cell down as easily as before. Cell chuckled at the looks of bewilderment the Z-fighters were giving him and, tapping the side of his head, the Android made a much more startling announcement.

"In other words to make it simpler for you fools, this special biological containment unit was designed as a singular, microscopic cell. It can be used numerous times and whenever I do use it, I will continue to come back with my strength increased by 35%, all thanks to the Saiyan's cells inside of me. Oh, the joys of being a nucleus," said Cell, an even more malicious smirk forming on his lips. "So what do you think of me now Gohan, a new form to ride in and a few new abilities? If you were sick of me before, wait till I start terrorizing you, your friends and the rest of this planet!"

Gohan's temper had risen to its breaking point now and Gohan's energy shot up incredibly once more, his eyes flashing from teal to turquoise all at once. They flickered between colors several times before his aura sprang up around him and his eyes turned turquoise and remained that color, permanently.

"You bastard," Gohan hissed through clenched teeth. Blue lightning began to sizzle around him and his ki continued to shoot up, almost reaching Cell's level.

Goku, finally reaching his limit exploded with his raw Super Saiyan power, his scream echoing all around. The Z-fighters were shocked at hearing Goku's sudden cry and turned to him with startled expressions on their faces.

Like a bullet, Goku shot at Cell, preparing to get some payback for the suffering of his son.

Goku's outburst was all that was needed for Gohan to drop out of his powering up state and remain at the level he had been in moments before, his aura dying down and his eyes widening in shock when he watched his dad charge past him without a care in the world for his well being.

"DAD NO!" Gohan cried.

Cell stood still, firm and basically relaxed just like he had been when fighting Hercule, just taking the hits but not feeling anything as Goku poured all of his strength into each blow. Even with Goku's strongest scatter shot energy technique, it was no good against the new, high powered android. Quickly tiring of Goku's meaningless efforts, Cell swatted Goku into one of the nearby mountains that was still standing; or had been anyway.

Goku was about to get up and try again, but found himself unable to move. His energy had dropped severally after his outbursts and because of the strike Cell had managed to land on him; he had dropped back to his base form.

"Don't bother Goku; your match with me would be more boring then pointless. My fight is with Gohan, not you." Goku was pissed and was about to get up and give Cell another thrashing but realized that he still couldn't move and just settled for glaring at him instead. His lack of energy soon took its toll and he collapsed flat out on the spot. Though still conscious, he couldn't find the energy to support himself.

Gohan gaped at Cell for a moment but recovered quickly and growled angrily and powered up, his golden aura spiking to maximum power, the pure golden flames and golden bolts of lightning being evident.

"I'll make you pay Cell for my brother's suffering, Mirai's too. I'll put you down once and for all," yelled Gohan. Without waiting for a response, Gohan charged at Cell. He had already realized that his mental powers would be fairly useless since Cell had acquired some of his cells and his father's power to help break it, and it would be even more useless if Cell tried using it against him.

Gohan threw a punch at Cell's gut, which was easily avoided and returned with an elbow to Gohan's back, sending him crashing into the ground. Gohan quickly rolled out of the way of the kick that cracked the ground where he had just been lying.

Gohan sprung back to his feet, and was about to fire a quick ki blast at Cell, when Gohan found that he already had one of Cell's fists embedded in his gut. Gohan spat up some blood, and then got kicked in the side sending him sailing straight towards a towering mountain far beyond the battlefield.

A quick release of ki behind him slowed then halted Gohan in mid-air as he took a moment to right him. It only took a split second and Gohan retuned to his assault, charging at Cell as fast as he could. Cell charged as well and together, the two disappeared into warp speed, taking the fight to a whole new dimension of power.

The Z-fighters watched in awe as sonic booms and shock waves exploded all around them, in the sky, on the ground and along the horizon. Mountains collapsed from the strain of force and the ground seemed to split beneath their feet, all just from the force of the punches and attack both fighters were launching on each other. But, seeing as that they had lost sight of their opponent's, they weren't able to see who was winning and who was losing.

However, within Cell and Gohan's eyes, it was clear that Cell was having the advantage, his smirk and confident effortless expression evident. He was gracefully blocking and attacking out at Gohan without having to use all of his power, Gohan meanwhile was putting full force behind his attacks and using all his skill to try and land a blow on his opponent. He managed a few blows, but those didn't do any real damage and Gohan was left with no other option but to defend as best as he could.

Reappearing in the skies above, Cell floated still with his arms crossed and a smirk across his face, seeing Gohan reappear a few moments later, panting lightly from their little spar.

"What's wrong Gohan, am I too fast for you?" taunted Cell. Gohan growled and took a glance at their power readings. He cursed at the results.

Throwing his arms and legs out, Gohan powered up, letting out an ear piercing and clearly enraged scream. His aura shot out in all directions at a violent rate.

"I WON'T LET YOU WIN CELL… AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

The winds from his energy nearly knocked the Z-fighters and Android 16 off their feet, but Cell stood firm and collected, still wearing the same smirk as before. He was far stronger then Gohan, so it was no surprise he was still standing.

With a new burst of energy, Gohan threw out his hand and started shifting from side to side in front of cell, letting off barrage after barrage of deadly, highly powered ki blasts at the his opponent. They all seemed to be ready to strike at Cell any moment, but to everyone's surprise, they all broke off from their flight path and spread out around the android, making an impregnable barrier of ki blasts. They all crackled menacingly where they floated, and when cell was completely surrounded, Gohan finished his move.

Leaping up to gain altitude, Gohan let out a yell and threw his arms out, throwing them together so they were crossed over his chest in a swift motion.

Cell smirked and out of the corner of his eye, saw all the blasts circulate for a moment then come pelting his way all at once, just like Piccolo's controlled scatter shot or Hellzone grenade technique.

Seeing a slight threat despite his higher power level, cell moved to a new tactic, one which surprised Gohan greatly. Creating an energy shield around him, obviously one of Gohan's, Cell blocked all the energy balls approaching him, all of them impacting with his shield and attempting to drill into it to reach him. However, the shield prevented them from doing so.

With one last ditch effort, Cell growled, spiking his ki so that his shield forced all of the ki blasts away, all of them rebounding off of his shock wave and flying off into random directions. Wherever the blasts struck, the ground beneath them exploded with great force, mushroom clouds appearing where the blasts landed.

Watching his attack fail miserably before him, Gohan became frustrated and angered at his failed attack. He had failed once; he wasn't going to fail again to this overgrown grasshopper!

Powering up to maximum, Gohan charged at Cell, letting all of his rage accelerate his energy to give him a power boost. But even with his rage, Gohan wasn't able to bring his power level to Cell's level.

Beginning his assault with a right punch, Gohan followed it up with combo after combo of earth shaking blows and energy overloading attacks. His attacks were nothing but blurs through the air, and the resounding shock waves from his blows making contact with his target were quickly followed up with further grunts of frustration and explosions from the second full out assault Gohan had immediately launched on his opponent. It looked Gohan was actually inflicting damage on his opponent, but Cell was actually blocking and avoiding every single attack like it were nothing, a smug smile in his face.

Blocking a final kick from Gohan, Cell knocked it back and sent a enormous blow at Gohan, his fist making an imprint in the young Saiyan's cheek and forming a shock wave greater then Gohan's blows. Gohan spat up blood and he closed his eyes from the force of the blow inflicted upon him, Cell's yell echoing around him.

Cell followed up that attack with swift upward kick to Gohan's gut, Gohan eyes widening when the blow hit him. It felt like Cell a iron pole was sticking into his midsection and the pain, not to mention the force of the blow was incredible, the sonic explosion being evident.

Too shocked to do anything now, Gohan crossed his arms over his gut to ease the pain, leaving him wide open for attack. Cell saw this and took this to his advantage, kicking Gohan into a nearby mountain.

Gohan went flying and struck the mountain full force, the whole entire solid structure collapsing from the impact. As it crumbled into dust and rubble, Gohan came flying out of its interior at full rage capacity, yelling as he flew up at cell, his fist held up in attack.

Cell just floated there with a confident smirk and a look that said 'you can't beat me' on him. However, it completely dropped when Gohan fazed out of sight and reappeared behind him, throwing his fist out to attack. Gohan missed though and was arm locked from behind, his arms held up helplessly.

"DARN IT!" yelled Gohan, struggling to break free from the lock. Cell laughed and applied force and pressure, trying to break Gohan's arms off. However, Gohan was putting up a much better fight then he had expected and in a sudden energy boost, Gohan broke free, pulling himself forward and elbowing Cell across the face while spinning around.

While Cell was falling to the side in full view of weakness, Gohan spun the opposite direction and kneed him in the gut. Cell had the wind knocked out of him from the unexpected attack, but he recovered smoothly and smacked Gohan across the face, Gohan plummeting to the ground below.

Recovering quickly from the blow, Gohan spun through the air and flipped back top his feet, landing on a flat boulder and dropping into a defensive stance. Almost instantly after he had landed, Cell appeared on top of a pillar of stone 10 meters in front of him, Gohan following the android with his eyes as he landed. Gohan became enraged when he saw the evil and confident smirk on the Android's face.

"Well done Gohan, you've proven to me that you are a one of a kind Saiyan, just like what your father had talked about. But I'd like to say you're still way out of your league. Lets look at the stats, you're a puny, 9 year old boy with hopes and dreams while I'm the terror of the universe, how does that sound for a fact?" asked Cell. Gohan growled and dropped into an offensive stance.

"Don't judge me when the battle has only began Cell, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," said Gohan. Cell grinned and dropped into his own fighting stance.

"Then show me… show me the power Alaric had promised me at during our little match," replied Cell, a smirk growing on his lips. "Or do you want to disappoint your dear old brother… what a shame…"

Gohan merely flinched at the mention of his brother's name as an uncomfortable silence edged on into the stand off, a soft wind blowing from the North and waving the young Saiyan's gi and hair.

The Z-fighters watched anxiously as the two warriors stared each other down, waiting for one of them to make the first daring move. Goku meanwhile had weakly flew back to Alaric, asking Krillin to give him a sensu bean, praying that it would heal him. Fortunately it did, reviving Alaric to his original state and beyond due to his zenkai ability. The match had started up strong at the beginning, and everyone could tell that it was going to get better. But this fight wasn't for entertainment; this fight was to determine the fate of the planet. Everyone held their breath, just watching and waiting anxiously in the silence that prevailed.

Suddenly, Gohan attacked, leaping at Cell as fast as he could and sending a kick at the Android's face. Cell caught his leg though and, keeping a firm grip, held Gohan in place. Gohan growled in frustration when he realized that his attack didn't break through and he tried to break from Cell's grip. But he couldn't move and the grip Cell was using was starting to hurt.

"Oh… I bet that must hurt, doesn't it Gohan. Guess it's not so funny now that I'm the strongest here huh?" suggested Cell in a mocking voice. Growling in anger, Gohan sent his other foot aimed at Cell's face, only to have that leg caught by Cell's other free hand.

Gohan soon found himself suspended in that position, both his legs caught and unable to be freed. Attempting to free himself, Gohan bent forward and threw his hand at Cell's face, firing a golden ki ball from his palm as swiftly as he could.

Cell had bent back in response and just as the ball had passed over him, Cell bent back up and spun Gohan around, releasing him at a giant mound of rock in the distance.

Gohan was sent flying straight at the mound of dirt, and before Gohan could hit it, the young Saiyan spun through the air and landed at a vertical angle to the ground, feet on the giant rock.

He was about to turn and make an attack on Cell when suddenly, he was over come by the light from a fired ki blast heading straight for him, not doubt one of Cell's. Acting as quickly as possible, Gohan leapt out of the energy attacks path and into the air, the blast striking the giant rock and exploding on impact, the smoke and blast consuming Gohan in a burning sensation of pain.

Finding a way out of this and deciding to hide for the moment, Gohan flew down to the crater caused by the explosion below and hid behind an upturned rock, blocking him from view with the smoke helping him conceal himself.

Watching, Gohan saw Cell appear on the cliff above, a smirk on his face with his eyes narrowed down on the crater below. Since Cell couldn't see Gohan, he was not sure he had survived or not, but as always, the mighty android always found a solution to his problems.

Holding out his hand and aiming it at some random boulder sitting somewhere at the base of the crater, Cell fired a green energy blast, destroying the boulder and sending more dust, smoke and rubble hurling into the air.

The blast had missed Gohan by a few meters, and the young Saiyan shielded his face from the flying debris. He realized that hiding would be pointless, and all he could do was bide some time so he could think of a way to beat Cell.

'There has to be a way to beat that monster, he's too strong to fight head on!'

Cell smirked, his eyes searching the smoking rubble and ledges below.

"Remember, a few days ago I was the one hiding, I needed time to stall and think of a new strategy to beat my opponents. Is that what you are doing now Gohan?" asked Cell, shouting his words into the smoke below. He knew that Gohan could hear him, and he knew exactly the right buttons to push.

Gohan bared his teeth and clenched his fist, restraining himself from lashing ut at his opponent. He hid his ki as best he could so that Cell wouldn't be able to be able to detect him, but he knew his efforts would be futile. He was also aware that Cell knew he was here.

"Your beloved Piccolo's cells are apart of me, and I can sense that you're alive down there kid. What would your dear father say if he saw you hiding like a coward?" asked Cell.

That really got Gohan's nerves flowing, and leaping out from his hiding place at Cell in a rage, Gohan charged.

"BOO!" shouted Gohan as he flew full speed at Cell, dust hurling out of the way as he made his way towards the android, intent on finishing the bug off once and for all. Cell smirked when Gohan appeared, and just as Gohan appeared in front of him, he disappeared, just as Gohan punched at him.

When his attack hit nothing, Gohan tracked Cell along the rocky battlefield, the ground disturbed and uprooted from their previous fight.

Seeing Cell appear floating above the ground some distance away with dust blowing out in all directions from his energy, Gohan went onto the attack, yelling loudly as he charged.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Power levels

Cell:

Perfect Cell (Full power): 12 billion

Gohan:

Super Saiyan 2: 11.25 billion

Goku:

Super Saiyan: 4.9 billion (Super Saiyan beyond his max in a fit of rage on the verge of ascending)

Alaric:

Base: 90 million (after sensu heal)

Vegeta:

Base: 50 million

Mirai Trunks:

Base: 49 million

Piccolo: 2.2 billion

Krillin: 60 million

Tien: 55 million

Yamcha: 53 million

Android 16: 2.5 billion

Hercule: 120

Lime: 5

Erran: 4.8

Anya: 4.5

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